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Ballet Hoo! rebroadcast

05 December 2006

More 4, a sister station to Channel 4, are showing all 4 episodes of Ballet Changed My Life: Ballet Hoo!, back to back on the evening of Saturday 9 December 2006. The documentary series followed a group of young people as they underwent ballet training, culminating in a performance of Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet on the Birmingham Hippodrome main stage. The final episode features their performance.

The times of the broadcasts are as follows:

19:05 Episode One
Can ballet change lives? That's the question Channel 4 posed over 18 months ago when it undertook a long-term project with Youth at Risk, Birmingham Royal Ballet and four local authorities. Could they use this disciplined art form to help turn around the often troubled lives of a group of around 200 young people? Alongside their dance training, the participants take part in group counciling sessions, where they are encouraged to speak of their experiences, resulting in emotional, and often shocking testimonials.

20:10 Episode Two
With the ballet training underway, the young people get their first taste of a live performance in front of friends and family. But do they have what it takes to perform in the larger surroundings of Birmingham Hippodrome, and who has stood out as a candidate for the larger roles?

21:10 Episode Three
With nothing a certainty at this point, project Directors Marion Tait and Desmond Kelly have cast two people in every role, meaning that they will now have to step up their games if the parts are to be theirs.

22:15 Episode Four
After 18 months of hard work and heartache the big night finally arrives. With an audience of over 2,000, the young people of the Ballet Hoo! Company join the professionals of Birmingham Royal Ballet in an extraordinary performance of the powerful classic Romeo and Juliet with Kenneth MacMillan's choreography to Prokofiev's famous music.